BeautifulPeople.com

{{Short description|Online dating service}}

{{Infobox website

| name = BeautifulPeople.com

| logo =

| screenshot =

| caption =

| url = {{URL|www.beautifulpeople.com}}

| commercial = Yes

| type = Online dating service

| language =

| registration = Yes

| owner = BeautifulPeople Network

| author = Robert Hintze, Kasper Hjorth, Kasper Lausen, Morten Lanng & Claus Pedersen{{cite web |title=Company lookup |url=https://datacvr.virk.dk/data/index.php?enhedstype=virksomhed&id=26905893&language=en-gb&q=visenhed |website=Central Business Register |access-date=12 June 2019}}

| launch_date =

| current_status = Active

| revenue =

}}

BeautifulPeople.com is an online dating service where applicants to the website are voted in or out by existing members of the opposite sex over a 48-hour period.{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/living/article/447650 |title=Only pretty people need apply to website |author=Nesdoly, Tracy |work=The Star |date=2008-06-24 |access-date=2010-01-04 |location=Toronto}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8439495.stm |title=BeautifulPeople.com axes holiday weight gain members |publisher=BBC News |date=2010-01-04 |access-date=2010-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105052317/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8439495.stm |archive-date=5 January 2010 |url-status=live }}

BeautifulPeople.com was launched in Denmark in 2002. The site was launched in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2005 and went global in 2009.{{cite web|last=Nugent |first=Helen |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/only-the-beautiful-need-apply-7d7tflqc3m9 |title=Only the beautiful need apply |work=The Times |date=2005-04-30 |access-date=2013-10-27}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/online-dating/6434425/Lonely-hearts-website-for-beautiful-people-only-goes-global.html |title=Lonely hearts website for beautiful people only goes global |publisher=Telegraph |date= 2009-10-26|access-date=2013-10-27 |location=London}}{{cite news|last=Barker |first=Olivia |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2005-07-27-beautiful-people_x.htm |title=USATODAY.com – 'Beautiful' Web site is only skin deep |publisher=Usatoday30.usatoday.com |date=2005-07-28 |access-date=2013-10-27}} The website has attracted considerable controversy in the media and much criticism since its inception due to its exclusive business model of only allowing perceived attractive men and women to join the dating community.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/online-dating/6434425/Lonely-hearts-website-for-beautiful-people-only-goes-global.html |title=Lonely hearts website for beautiful people only goes global |publisher=Telegraph |date=2009-10-26 |access-date=2010-01-04 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211012312/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/online-dating/6434425/Lonely-hearts-website-for-beautiful-people-only-goes-global.html |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead }} The website's managing director Greg Hodge claimed that it is "based on a fundamental principle of human nature".{{cite web|url=https://hellohygge.com/2012/06/04/beautiful-enough-for-beautifulpeople-com/|title=Beautiful enough for BeautifulPeople.com?|work=Hello Hygge}}

About 20 percent of applications to the site make it into the community.{{cite web |url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/dating-site-rejects-ugly-poms-20091112-iao9.html |title=Dating site rejects 'ugly' Poms |publisher=Brisbane Times |date=2009-11-12 |access-date=2010-01-04}}

In 2012, BeautifulPeople launched an exclusively gay version of BeautifulPeople.com. BeautifulPeople launched a satirical campaign in support of same-sex marriage in the United States in June 2012.{{cite news|url= https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beautifulpeople-gay-marriage_b_1724382 |title=Forgive Them, For They Know Not What Is Gay|first=Greg|last=Hodge|website=HuffPost |date=2012-07-31 |access-date=2013-10-27}}

In January 2010, BeautifulPeople removed 5,000 members from the site for gaining weight.{{cite news|author=Sam Jones |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/04/beautiful-people-rid-dating-slobs |title=Beautiful People expels 5,000 members after festive weight gain | Life and style |work=The Guardian |date= 2010-01-04|access-date=2013-10-27 |location=London}}

In June 2011, it was attacked by a virus which allowed users to join without going through the mandatory 48 hour voting process. Reportedly 30,000 people who were mistakenly let into the dating community were kicked off of the website as a result. The media dubbed the virus "Shrek" after the animated film with an underlying story line of how looks should not matter.{{cite web|author=Rupert Neate |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/20/dating-website-beautiful-people-members |title=Dating website for beautiful people dumps 30,000 members | Life and style |work=The Guardian |date=June 20, 2011|access-date=2013-10-27}}

As of 2013, BeautifulPeople was regularly hosting events for its members in the US and Europe. In order to gain entrance to its events, attendees must look as attractive as they have represented themselves online or they will be turned away by the door screeners, who the media have coined the "Beauty Police".{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2013/02/12/beautifulpeople-beauty-police/ |title=Beauty Police Turn Ugly People Away at Dating Site Events |publisher=Mashable.com |date=2013-02-12 |access-date=2020-02-29}}

In 2016, private data from over 1.1 million user profiles and 15 million messages exchanged between members were leaked after BeautifulPeople had erroneously made it available on a MongoDB test server.{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/11-million-dating-profiles-beautifulpeoplecom-leaked-and-sale-dark-web-452362|title=1.1 million dating profiles at BeautifulPeople.com leaked and for sale on dark web|last=Lee|first=Seung|date=2016-04-25|work=Newsweek}} The information made public included addresses, education, employment, income, and sexual preferences.